Curse of the Silver Luxray
by What Lies Beyond
Summary: I was the only one to see the small sign with its strange message by the side of the road. Now, just before my friends and I were about to start a tour of an old mansion, I'm trapped in the body of a Luxray. Worse yet, I can't tell Cameron or the others who I am! How did this happen, and can I change back?


_**Welcome to Curse of the Silver Luxray, my second fanfic! Timeline-wise, this would fall after the current chapters in Shifters and Shadows, but still during this latest Shadow Incident.**_

_**Again, please watch your step. Duskrunner's around here somewhere and he doesn't like being tripped over (See Shifters and Shadows, chapter 13 if you have no clue who I'm talking about). **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**_

Chapter 1: Poets and Prophecies

The tour bus hit another pothole in the road, and I scowled as my pencil inscribed a jagged line across my drawing. I shifted my sketchbook on my lap and began erasing the mistake, trying to avoid some of the more delicate lines. It was a picture of Anakin and Thunder curled up together, sleeping cheek-to-cheek. I was glad they'd finally gotten over their differences, because Thunder's presence had been beneficial to Anakin's health, and now that Star had been Purified, he was doing very well. It had been a couple months now since he'd hatched, and I was wondering how long it would be before he Evolved, seeing how fast he was gaining strength. His health was steady now too, so I no longer had to worry about him suddenly getting sick.

Another pothole sent the eraser skidding off the page, taking off part of Anakin's paws and Thunder's cheek. I gave up trying to fix the errors, and flipped through some of my older sketches for a bit before returning to the page I had been working on. Perhaps later I could fix it.

A few seats ahead of me, Jake was dozing with his head against the window. As we hit a third major pothole his head banged against the glass, causing him to come awake with a yelp. After looking around wildly at the scenery he relaxed, realizing we had yet a ways to go before we reached our destination. I saw him close his eyes and begin nodding off, so it was only a matter of time before he hit his head again. The other passengers didn't react; this was the third or fourth time this had happened.

Emma was listening to music, and David was reading. They sat next to each other, ignoring the other completely. In a way that was a good thing; they had gotten in a major argument the day before and were still not quite over it yet. If the bus hadn't had so many people on it they would've probably picked different seats, but the bus was almost full. Albeit it was a small one, but still.

Cameron was in the seat in front of mine, idly staring out the window. I wasn't sure if he was paying attention to anything outside, daydreaming, or doing some form of meditation. There really wasn't much to see at the moment, though, so I guessed that he was either zoned out or meditating. Then he caught me staring, and I felt my face flush. _I guess he was meditating and not zoning out. Oops._

I turned my gaze to the window, watching the road and its accompanying signs go by. We had decided to go on a tour of a mansion apparently built a hundred years ago by an eccentric man who had dedicated entire wings to all the different types of Pokémon who lived in the surrounding woods. In other words, there were eighteen additional wings and the main part of the building, and over a hundred rooms to explore. It was odd that so few people knew about it, and rumor had it that there was some sort of curse on the building, but I thought that was just a publicity stunt. I mean, sure, my friends and I had seen some strange things during our travels, but a cursed mansion? Come on.

_It's a pity Michael couldn't come. I wonder if he's back yet? _ He'd left for the Orre region several weeks ago, planning to spend a few days at home with his family and all the Pokémon he'd caught. It was also his sister's birthday, so he had taken an Egg with him to give to her. He'd told us he'd be back soon, and indeed, he should have been back already. I was beginning to wonder if he was alright; we'd tried calling the lab only to get the answering machine, and telepathy didn't work over such long distances. Heck, even Cameron's email hadn't gotten through….

_Michael's probably just busy. I wouldn't be surprised if he had to go out and round up some more Shadows—they seem to be coming out of the woodwork like crazy lately. I wonder if we're close to finding Cipher's new hideout…. Huh!? What was that?_

For a second there, I thought I had seen a sign by the side of the road, next to the mile marker. A small, nearly invisible sign made of gnarled beech wood. As the bus turned onto a small dirt road, I flipped the page in my sketchbook and wrote down the words that had seared onto the backs of my eyelids as we passed it:

_Believe in the Phoenix_

_ Trust not the Barthellou_

_ Your Spirit knows the Truth_

_ The Key holds the Answers_

Odd….Barthellou was the name of the man who had built the mansion….but the brochure said he had died without an heir. So what did it mean? The Phoenix was another name for Ho-Oh. And what was this bit about spirits and truth, answers and keys?

"Hey, Cameron," I asked, "Did you see that sign by the mile marker?"

"What sign?" Cameron replied, confused. He turned around to look at me.

"There was a small sign next to the mile marker, made of old beech wood." I replied. "You didn't see it?"

"Kitt, I didn't see any sign. Are you sure your eyes weren't playing tricks on you?"

I showed him the message I had copied down, belatedly realizing it was on the back of the sketch of Anakin and Thunder. Oops.

"Odd….Hang on a sec. I'll ask the lady ahead of me if she saw it." He turned back around and tapped the woman in the seat ahead of him on the shoulder. I fingered my pendant, the shard of a Light Ball smooth and cool. I'd had this necklace as long as I could remember and rarely took it off, but was it my imagination, or did the glass now glow slightly?

Cameron turned back to me, frowning. "Neither she nor her husband saw the sign, and neither did their teenage son. Heck, even the girl ahead of _them_ didn't see it. I don't know what you saw. Keep a lookout for anything weird. I've got a bad feeling about this…."

He wasn't the only one. I _knew_ I had seen a sign—heck, I had the message to prove I didn't make it up. So how come I was the only one who seemed to have seen it?

The bus began slowing down, and I realized we must have reached our destination. I snapped out of my thoughts to take a look around, and what a sight awaited me!

The mansion was surrounded by woodlands, the trees old and crooked, and sunlight filtered weakly through the branches. Although it was only noon, it seemed as if dusk was falling. I wondered if the woods had grown wilder as time passed. The courtyard was overgrown as well, except for a small garden, which I thought odd, until I saw a flicker of movement here and there, and saw the Flabébé and Floette attending to the garden, along with a lone Florges. I guessed the Fairy types with their love of gardening would have done their best to keep their home maintained, but with so few of them here, they would have had to let some of it go. A rustle in the grass told me that other Pokémon had made this their home too, so perhaps the unrestricted growth was intentional.

However, the most impressive sight was the mansion itself. From where the bus currently was, the only part of the mansion that was visible was the front entrance and two of the wings. And yet….

The front of the building was flanked by massive pillars supporting a roof over the path, each pillar glittering in the dim light. Veins of differently colored stone ran up the pillars, and it was hard to see what kind of stone lay underneath. The doorway was large and imposing, and though it was too far away to see the knocker on the door, I imagined it would have to be just as impressive.

And the wings themselves…. One was styled just like a greenhouse, every room visible from behind glass windows that stretched to the ceiling. Tropical plants and flowers filled one room, northern pines in another, and a third had vines curling around the window of a jungle-like scene. The other wing wasn't as open, but I could see the odd flash of violet energy in the windows. Sometimes a blue or yellow bolt would flash as well, so I wasn't sure what Type that wing might be dedicated to. The first was obviously Grass; if I had to guess, I'd say that this one was Psychic, Ghost, or Electric.

With a shuddering groan and a jolt, the bus came to a halt. All was still for a moment, and then the doors opened with a creak. Everyone immediately stood to get off the bus, except for Jake, who was sound asleep. David shook him awake as he passed, and Jake hurriedly grabbed his stuff and managed to join the line. I was about to return my sketchbook to my backpack when it was knocked out of my hand, sliding under the seat while my pencil clattered into the aisle. I reached down and grabbed it, narrowly avoiding getting my hand stepped on, and was about to go after my sketchbook when I felt something wrap around my ankle.

_Hey! You coming?_ Emma called, and I realized that everyone else was outside. Most of the other passengers had already gone ahead to wait for the tour to begin, and only my friends were still waiting. I was the only one left on the bus.

_One second! I gotta grab my sketchbook, it slid under the seat! _ Actually, I had to deal with the thing around my ankle, too, but that was another matter. I reached down and touched it. It was soft and pliant, and smooth to the touch. It was cool, and I felt numerous small suckers on the underside. It seemed to be some sort of tentacle. I glanced down at my ankle and saw that it was pale, with a diamond-shaped tip. I was aware of only one species like that: Inkay. However, it was common knowledge that Inkay had the ability to hypnotize people, and since it seemed to be hiding under my seat, I'd have to be careful. I didn't want to get hypnotized and do something stupid, and I wasn't sure if this Inkay would be willing to listen to the words of a Shifter.

I reached into my backpack, fingers brushing various objects inside. Pokéballs, art supplies, another sketchbook, this one full…_Aha! I thought it'd migrate to the bottom. _I pulled out a small container. Opening it slowly, I reached in and pulled out two Berries, a Chesto and a Persim. The effects of berries typically didn't affect humans, but as a Shifter, I'd knew that I'd receive the benefits. Chesto Berries prevented one from falling asleep, while Persim Berries prevented confusion. I wasn't sure which category hypnosis fell under, so I took a bite of each, letting the juices run down my throat before swallowing. To be on the safe side, I ate all but a small piece of each berry, holding them in my mouth under my tongue. Taking a deep breath, I looked under the seat.

I saw the Inkay hanging upside-down from the seat before a bright flash blinded me. When it cleared, the Inkay looked startled for a moment before releasing my ankle and scooting away. _I guess that meant its attempt at hypnotizing me failed. _I swallowed the remaining Berry pieces, then grabbed my sketchbook from where it had ended up, directly under the spot the Inkay had hung from. _Though why an Inkay would try to hypnotize me is beyond me. And what's one doing here anyway…?_

I tossed the berry container back into my backpack before carefully sliding my sketchbook in as well, making sure the pencil was tucked in the spiral bindings. Shrugging it onto my shoulder, I hurried up the aisle to the doors, not wanting to hold everyone up much longer. That's when it happened.

As I placed my foot on the first step, something tripped me, and I tumbled head over heels off the bus. The back of my head struck something on the way down, and as I landed on the ground I was only dimly aware of the pain before my vision went black.


End file.
